The debate over DACA is about what makes a ‘real American’

President Trump’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, at first blush, flies in the face of popular will. If widespread criticism was not evidence enough, public opinion polling shows a consistent and increasing supermajority support for the program and similar concepts. Our own recent Ipsos polls show a nearly universal support for DACA across party lines. …

So, what explains Trump’s action on DACA? …

DACA represents one of America’s fundamental fault lines: who is a real American? For many Republicans, particularly for supporters of Donald Trump, immigrants are simply not real Americans. This is, for them, an elementary truth. CONT.

Clifford Young (Ipsos Public Affairs), The Hill